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A 20-month collaboration project between the organisations aimed to increase awareness of respiratory disease, provide accurate diagnosis and treatment and lead to improved quality of life through health care at general practices.

Ms Ward, who ran the project, said independent evaluation had shown reduction in presentations to Hawke's Bay Fallen Soldiers' Memorial Hospital emergency department and a reduction in referrals to secondary care for non-complex investigation.

It had also shown decreased length of stay, increased accurate diagnosis and improved staff and patient feedback, said Ms Ward.

The Asthma Foundation's strategy report said children, people on low incomes and Maori and Pacific people experienced a much greater burden of respiratory ill health than other New Zealanders.

Emeritus Professor Sir Mason Durie of Massey University said respiratory diseases not only reflected the health status of individuals but were also a comment on the environments where they lived, worked, and played.

Addressing the problem required highly skilled medical interventions, ready access to services, early intervention, close links between the various components of the health sector and high levels of health literacy, he said.

The National Respiratory Strategy was a call to action to reduce the incidence of respiratory disease, reduce the impact of respiratory disease and eliminate inequalities in respiratory health in New Zealand, according to the report. NZME